Transmission of power for operating pumps in mines



(NoModeL) 2'SheetsSheet 1.

. P A. HUMBERT.

TRANSMISSION OF POWER FOR OPERATING PUMPS IN MINES. NO. 301,992. Patented July 15. 1884.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2. HUMBERT.

P. A TRANSMISSION OF POWER FOR OPERATING PUMPS IN MINES. No. 301,992..

(No Model.)

Patented July 15, 1884.

N. PETERS, Pncwum n m. Waslungon. u. c.

PIERRE A. HUMBERT, OF

VIRGINIA CITY, NEVADA.

TRANSMISSION OF POWER FOR OPERATING PUMPS IN MINES.

PECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent NOI 301,992, dated July 15, 1884.

Application filed November 12, 1883. (No model.)

.T0 at whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, PIERRE A. HUMBERT, of Virginia City, county of Storey, and State of Nevada, have invented an Improvement in Transmission of Power for Operating Pumps in Mines; and I hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to a new and, useful method, mode, or system for transmitting power from the surface through the shaft of a mine to operate the pumps; and it consists in working the pumps by means of an endless wire rope or cable passing over and driven continuously by a peculiar arrangement of sheaves, and connected suitably with the pumps. Details of construction and arrange ment of sheaves and devices to provide for the proper tension on the cable, the freedom of the shaft, and the course of the cable form part of and complete my invention.

The object of myinvention is to operate the pumps continuously by means which are most advantageous in original cost of construction, in lightness, strength, and the space they occupy, and in general efficiency, all of which will be more fully explained hereinafter, referencebeing madeto the accompanying draw ings, in which I Figure 1 is a side elevation of the sheaves at the surface, showing the course of the wire rope or cable. Fig. 2 is a plan of same. Fig. 3 is a side elevationof the sheaves, gearing, and pump in the mine. Fig. at is a plan of same. 1

A is the surface of the shaft of the mine.

O is the main drivin g-sheav'e, to which power is to be transmitted in any suitable manner. It carries on its shaft a sheave, D, having a double face, Fig. 2

E is a deflecting-sheave near the mouth of the shaft and in line with sheave D.

F is a directing-sheave mounted on an incline, as shown in Fig. 2, forthe purpose of keeping the rope or cable from chafing, as I shall presently explain. This sheave has a double face, Fig. 2.

The wire rope or cable is designated by G, and its course above thegro'und is as follows:

Coming up out of the shaft,as represented by" ground, and B. is one over the sheave D on its near face; thence to, over, and under the near face of inclined sheave F, by which it is led past itself without chafing; thence to, under, and over the off face of sheave D; thence again to the sheave F to its off face, by which direction it is led past'itself again without chafing, and thence down the shaft, as indicated by the descending arrow in Fig. 1. At the bottom of the shaft, and to one side, is a sheave, H, Fig. 3,which receives and deflects the cable as it comes down the shaft. Behind it is a sheave, I, mounted on an angle, as shown in Fig. 4. On; the other side of the shaft is a double-faced sheave, J, mounted on a shaft, K. Behind this sheave is a doublefaced sheave, L, mounted on an angle. The course of the cable over these sheaves "is as follows: It comes down the shaft, as indicated by the descending arrow in Fig. 3, and passes under the deflecting-sheave H to, under, and over the inclined sheave I, which, by reason of its inclination, leads it past itself without chafing. It thence passes across the bottom of the shaft to the inclined sheave L,'over, around, and under the off face of which it passes back to the off face of directing-sheave J, under and over which it passes back again to the near face of sheave L; thence forward again to the near face of sheave J, and up the shaft, as indicated by the ascending arrow in Fig. 3. The

inclinationof sheaves I and L prevents the cable from chafing itself, and enables me to lead it back and forth to obtain the necessary driving-tension. It will be observed that these sheaves are all without the area of the shaft, which is advantageous in not encumbering it. Single compartment-shafts are never constructed very large, and it is of great importance to keep them as free as possible. This I do with the endless wire-rope, which takes up little room, and is therefore a11improvement on the Cornish pump which so on cumbers the shaft. For a like reason my sheaves are placed out of the way of the shaft.

The arrangement and number of sheaves as herein shown ,could be altered in slight'particulars; but for practical working I deem the best arrangement to be as I have described, for reasons which will be obvious to those skilled in engineering or the, practical operations of machinery, and therefore unnecessary to mention here. I

M is a pump, with the piston of which is connected the pitman-rod m. On the shaft K is a pinion, N, which meshes with a large gear, 0, having a crank-pin, 0, with which the pit man-rod m of the pump connects, whereby, through the power of the traveling belt, the pump is operated.

It is obvious that though I have herein shown but one level and one pump in the mine, I could apply the same system to as many levels and as many pumps as are necessary. There is one important feature which requires to be provided for in this employment of an endless traveling cable, and that is to take up the slack or tighten the cable. YVhen a cable is used in a horizontal plane (or nearly so) as a means for transmitting power, the sag of the cable itself serves to tighten it; but in sending it down the shaft of a mine, which is nearly always vertical, or approaches to it, there is no sag of the cable, and'consequently some positive means must be used to tighten it. I accomplish this necessary result in the following manner: lhe double-faced inclined sheave L down in the mine is mounted in pillow-blocks I, set in guides and adapted to slide therein. In front of these, on the supporting frame-work, are pressure-cylinders Q, having solid plungers or pistons, the rods q of which are connected with the pillow-blocks. A pressure-pipe, It, leads from the pump-columnS in the shaft to the pressure-cylinders. The weight of the water in the pump-column is therefore always upon the plungers of the cylinders the rods of which press back the pillowblocks continuously, and thus force back the sheave L to keep the cable tight.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The improved system for transmitting power from the surface for operating the pumps in a mine, consisting of an endless traveling wire rope or cable passing down and up the shaft, and supported and guided upon and by sheaves within the mine and on the surface, and driven by power from the surface, a mechanism for taking up the slack or tightening the wire rope or cable, and a mechanism for taking the power of the wire rope or cable and transferring it to the pumps, substantially as herein described.

2. In a system for transmitting power from the surface to operate pumps within a mine by means of an endless traveling wire rope or cable passing down and up the shaft, the guide-sheave E at the mouth of the shaft for deflecting the cable from the shaft, the sheave D on the main driving-shaft, for leading the cable round, and the guide-sheave F at the mouth of the shaft, for directing it down again, substantially as herein described.

3. In a system for transmitting power from the surface to operate pumps within a mine by means of an endless traveling wire rope or cable passing down and up the shaft, the guide-sheave E at the mouth of the shaft for deflecting the cable from the shaft, the doublefaced sheave D on the drivingshaft for leading the cable round and driving it, and the double-faced sheave F, set on an angle, for preventing the cable from chafing and directing down in the shaft, substantially as herein described.

4. In a system for transmitting power from the surface to operate the pumps in a mine by means of an endless traveling wire rope or cable passing down and up the shaft, asheave on each side of the shaft at its bottom for deflecting and directing the cable from and to the shaft, and a sheave at one side for leading it round, substantially as herein described.

5. In a system for transmitting power from the surface to operate the pumps in a mine by means of an endless traveling wire rope or cable passing down and up the shaft, a sheave on each side of the shaft at its bottom for deflecting and directing the cable from and to the shaft, a sheave for loading it round said sheave,beingmountedin slidingpillow-blocks, and a mechanism for pressing said sheave back to take up the slack or tighten the cable, substantially as herein described.

6. In a system for transmitting power from the surface to operate the pumps in a mine by means of an endless traveling wire rope or cable passing down and up the shaft, sheaves at the bottom of the shaft for deflecting and directing the cable from and to the shaft, the sheave L,for leading it round, the sliding pillow-blocks 1?,in which said sheave is mounted, the pressure-cylinders Q, and pistons q, connected with the pillow-blocks, and the pressure-pipe It from the pump-column in the shaft to the pressure cylinders, substantially as herein described.

7. In a system for transmitting power from the surface to operate the pumps in a mine by means of an endless traveling wire rope or cable passing down and up the shaft, the sheave H at the bottom for deflecting the cable, the sheave I behind it and mounted on an angle for leading it round and preventing it from chafing, the double-faced sheave L, mounted on an angle, for receiving and leading it back and preventing it from chafing,

. and the double-faced sheave J, for leading and directing it up into the shaft, all arranged and operating substantially as herein described.

' 8. In a system for transmitting power from the surface to operate the pumps in a mine by means of an endless traveling wire rope or cable passing down and up the shaft, deflecting, directing, and leading sheaves for said cable in the bottom of the shaft, and the means for taking the power of the cable and transferring it to the pump, consisting of the pinion N on the shaft K, on which one of said sheaves is mounted, the large gear 0, meshing with the pinion and having crank-pin 0, connected with the pitman of the piston of the pump, substantially as herein described.

9. In a system for transmitting power'from the surface to operate the pumps in a mine by means of an endless traveling Wire rope or the double-faced directlng-sheave J, all at the IO cable passing down and up the shaft, the debottom of the shaft, and arranged substanflecting-sheave E at the mouth of the shaft, tially as herein shown and described.

the double-faced drivingsheave D, and dou- In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my ble-faeed inclined directing-sheave F, all at hand. a 1 the surface, and arranged as shown, in com- PIERRE A. HUMBERT. bination with the deflecting-sheave H, the in- YVitnesses: clined leading-sheave I, the inclined double- G. D. COLE,

faced leading-sheave L at the other side, and J. H. BLOOD. 

